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WJA’s In the Know Conference

Mar 12, 2015

The WJA (Woman’s Jewelry Association) is an important organization in the jewelry industry. It connects store owners, designers, jewelers, marketers, sales people and jewelry lovers together. The organization started to create a supportive community for women in a male dominated industry. This was our second year attending the annual conference in New York City and already it has grown a significant amount.

This year the keynote speakers were incredible! Gretchen Rubin, bestselling author of the Happiness Project, spoke about creating healthier habits. Some easy tips from her were to get a good amount of sleep and to exercise daily, even if you just take a short walk. Her new book ‘Better Than Before; Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives’ comes out next week.

The second speaker was Marcy McGinnis, former Senior VP of CBS News, was very inspiring. She spoke about her experience working in the newsroom before that was a typical place for women to work. Through her stories she shared advice to be a strong female leader.

The final keynote speaker of the day was Jennifer Hyman, the founder of Rent the Runway. Jennifer has an amazing story about how she came up with the idea and the risks she took to launch her business. For example, cold calling Diane Von Furstenberg and getting a meeting with her. Jennifer had and still has a strong vision for her brand which was exciting to see her speak about.

Overall the event was great, as was connecting with all of the amazing people in the jewelry industry. We are already looking forward to next year.